Beretta - Serbian defense industry's first foreign partner?

Beretta is interested in cooperating with Serbia's defense industry - especially with the companies Zastava Oruzje and Prvi Partizan.

The daily Vecernje Novosti is reporting this, and adding that the Italian firearms manufacturer could become the first foreign partner to invest in this sector in Serbia after the adoption of a new law on weapons manufacturing and trade.

The new legislation allows foreigners to own up to 49 percent in state-owned defense industry companies in Serbia, while this limit is 15 percent when it comes to weapons and ammunition factories.

Vecernje Novosti writes that Beretta is interested not only in cooperation, but also in investing in the industry, something that was announced last year when Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin visited Italy.

Representatives of the Serbian Ministry of Defense said it was necessary to attract foreign as well as domestic capital because "despite all the investments that have been made, Serbia doesn't have enough money to acquire modern technologies."

"They will help us rebuild and expand the technology base and expand the range of products. We expect concrete offers from the Italian Beretta, while contacts exist with several companies from the Czech Republic, India and other countries," the ministry told Novosti.

According to MoD data, the Serbian defense industry last year had revenues of 580 million dollars. In 2018 this figure is expected to reach 700 million. It is estimated that the arrival of foreign capital would increase revenues by about one hundred million a year .

The state's goal is for the value of exported defense industry products to exceed one billion dollars by 2020.